1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to shower curtains, and more particularly to a shower curtain which is provided with releasable fasteners that enable the lower portion thereof to be selectively raisable.
2. Description of the Related Art
Shower curtains provide a barrier for keeping shower water spray within the confines of a bathtub. Shower curtains are composed of a flexible sheet material which does not allow water penetration, such as for example a plastic sheet or a treated mildew resistant fabric. The shower curtain is suspended from a horizontally oriented suspension rod, wherein a plurality of regularly spaced hangers slidably engage the suspension rod and fixedly connect with a top end of the shower curtain at selected spaced locations therealong. Accordingly, the shower curtain can be slid relative to the suspension rod between two operative configurations: on one hand being horizontally spread-out along the suspension rod to thereby span the length of the bathtub, to, on the other hand, being horizontally compressed upon itself via appropriate sliding of the hangers along the suspension rod involving a flexing action along vertical pleats in the shower curtain which form between the hangers. While horizontal sliding of the shower curtain does afford easy ingress and egress for a shower-taker, it does not adequately get the shower curtain out of the way when the bathtub and its environs are being cleaned, or for other reasons, such as aesthetics.
In the art, some solutions to the problem of the shower curtain being in the way have been formulated, such as for example the disclosures contained in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,481,397, 2,840,827, 3,222,689, 3,582,998, 3,965,960, 4,122,559, 5,231,708 and 5,033,132, which more or less generally disclose mounting a roll-up shower curtain in a manner not unlike that of a window shade.
What remains needed in the art, is a shower curtain which can slidably move along a suspension rod and thereby function like a conventional shower curtain, but which is further structured so that the lower portion thereof can be selectively raised toward the suspension rod for cleaning of the bathtub or for other reasons, such as aesthetics.